I’m normally a fair and patient man. I’ve been watching footy for nearly 60 years, and as a Crows supporter I’ve ridden the highs and lows.
But I’ve hit the wall after last round’s umpiring debacle. And not just for that one fateful error. Or the departing CEO explaining at a press conference in a dog park that an error was made and that he’s sorry it’s cost us a finals spot, as well as affecting the chances of numerous other teams.
It’s everything. And under Gill’s watch, there’s been a lot of everything.
Consider where our national game is at. A multimillion-dollar business with a $4.5 billion broadcast rights deal. With 11 AFL clubs being owned by the members, two being owned by the West Australian Football Commission and five by the AFL itself.
With a compromised season played by 18 teams over 24 rounds. With one club playing 14 games at the Grand Final venue while some play only one there. With the same club only travelling interstate five times while some travel every second week.
A fixture compromised by the revenue produced by the big Victorian clubs over fairness. An archaic review system which slows the game but rarely provides surety. Part-time umpires, many of whom struggle to bounce the ball consistently at centre bounces.
Cameramen who focus too tightly on the man with the ball instead of the field of play. Commentators calling games from a TV screen. Constant rule changes which rarely add anything but confusion. An inconsistent MRO which is a national joke.
A game overseen by a top-heavy corporate structure led by a retiring CEO, who for some reason needs a year to officially hand over his duties. An organisation which spruiks fairness, inclusivity and racial harmony but is happy to have as its corporate partners a fast food company, a major bank, a brewing company and a betting agency. Hardly the bastions of mental and physical well being.
And a period where racial scandals like the Adam Goodes and drawn-out Hawks fiascos were handled by simply hoping they would go away.
Alastair Clarkson and Chris Fagan at a Hawthorn training session in 2016. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
An organisation which tosses away money on promoting the game in places like China and New Zealand and inventing AFLX, which nobody wanted, nor supported.
An official website which is so confusing that finding a game’s press conference can take longer than the conference itself. And usually proves equally as frustrating because apparently giving microphones to the people asking the questions is beyond their technical ability.
In fact, besides handling the difficult COVID period well, it is hard to mount a case that any aspect of football has improved during Gill’s decade-long tenure.
And yet despite all this, the game continues to grow. A testament more to the game itself rather than the administration of it. A fact which will no doubt be overlooked when the AFL reports what a wonderful job it is doing in its next annual report and how they have once again achieved record attendances.
If you were starting a competition from scratch there is nothing about our existing corporate structure which screams best practice.
Admittedly, the AFL evolved fairly quickly, and when the first interstate team was included it was more of a quick fix to save a team, rather than the first step of the planned growth of a national competition which would see teams competing from every mainland state in 20 odd years.
But surely we have now reached the point where someone has to pause and reflect where we are and where we’re going, rather than these continual reactionary quick fixes, or worse, total inaction because the problems are too hard.
Adelaide players react to their thrilling loss to Sydney. (Photo by Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Sure, as fans we can vote with our feet, but the AFL knows we love our game too much to do that and so we’ll just continue to become increasingly disillusioned but still attend or watch on TV, despite what they do, or don’t do.
And frustratingly, this bloated, self-regulating organisation has become so arrogant it doesn’t even see the need for change.
I don’t have a quick fix, but one thing I learnt through my business years is that we now live in an age where the power of people can be harnessed through the internet to achieve change.
I truly hope someone out there with a real passion for our great game can come up with a method to pull these corporate cowboys back into line…
Valentino
Roar Rookie
Crows should bust a nut for Philipou - GF was Torrens captain when few ethnics played the game.
RT
Roar Rookie
The only thing I questioned was this alleged discussion about a "shared competition" which you can't produce any evidence of. Just admit you misunderstood and move on. What exactly do I have my head buried in the sand about?
JB
Roar Rookie
Semantics .. feel free to keep your head buried in the sand friend
George Apps
Roar Rookie
We don't need more technology, we need less f---ing tech!
George Apps
Roar Rookie
Too damn complicated - we want less rules, not more!
George Apps
Roar Rookie
Any kick going through the goal posts at any time scores the maximum 6 points!
George Apps
Roar Rookie
I've been a footy follower for 65 years and I've never seen a worse gang of incompetents than we have in the AFL at present!
RT
Roar Rookie
Look at it in context. the AFL is Ports fault. WAFL & SANFL and VFL were all talking about a shared competition until Port tried to join the VFL.
JB
Roar Rookie
No, your initial point was "How was it Port’s fault?" That is what I responded to.
Duncan
Roar Rookie
Adelaide supporters seem to forget the controversial & wrong decision in against Geelong that won them a Final!
Goolooloo
Roar Rookie
Yep they gotta make amends to that grand final deal. I don’t mind it being at the G, but not for the sake of the MCC members. They need to create a clause that if an interstate team earns the right to host the grand final vs a Victorian team, then those extra 10k MCC seats go to the interstate teams members. Balances out the unfairness of the thing and won’t even happen all that often.
RT
Roar Rookie
No need to be rude. Apparently it is hard for you to understand my initial point which was to question Roger's claim that "WAFL & SANFL and VFL were all talking about a shared competition". Nothing you have written indicates that was true. The WAFL already owned WC and were in the VFL. The VFL wanted an SA team as well. That doesn't sound much like a shared competition.
JB
Roar Rookie
A number of Victorian teams were broke .. as was the VFL itself The license money was used to prop them up Wait year or 2 and SANFL (and WAFL) would've been in a stronger position to negotiate Port shafted everyone. What is so hard to understand
Woof
Roar Rookie
When the Crows kick a goal against the Eagles they should all set up for a point kick in......
Mr Right
Roar Rookie
I don’t believe we need to use better technology & constant replays; I just think we need to use a bit of common sense & award full points upon the ball going through the posts untouched. Afterall, the team that kicks the most goals is still going to win the game.
Mr Right
Roar Rookie
Don't forget that for a long period of time Adam Goodes was invited to tell his side of the story & chose his privacy. The AFL tried to talk him into participating in the farewell lap of honour. He declined the offer. I haven't heard of any stories of Adam Goodes being denied communication or participation. I am sure the AFL would love to employ Adam to assist in encouraging youth to join our game.
RT
Roar Rookie
West Coast and BB were already in the competition. One of the big sticking points was the the SANFL said they would not join unless it was a 12 team competition as that was the ideal number for a 22 round season. True but somewhat hypocritical for a competition of 10 teams playing a 22 game season to say. But that would have meant 3 teams would have to fold or maybe 6 teams merging into 3. It might have been ideal but it was never going to happen, though that is said with some benefit of hindsight. I still don't blame Port and it is a shame Port and Norwood didn't join. They were the most successful club in top league in Australia and wanted a licence in their own right. I don't think we disagree on anything about what happened in SA other than whether Port should have done what they did. I don't recall the 3 leagues being at a point of discussing a "shared competition" as Roger said, but genuinely interested if you can dig something up.
JB
Roar Rookie
No words .. yes its true So they sat down with 9 other clubs and SANFL Commission and agreed to wait. Then back stabbed the whole lot of them. And all you can muster is "you can hardly blame them" The SANFL were not trying to dictate anything. They were trying to negotiate a fair deal. There was a small window of opportunity to have a genuine and fair national football league. Now we have a bevy of interstate clubs playing in an expanded VFL.
RT
Roar Rookie
I know all that. Roger wrote "WAFL & SANFL and VFL were all talking about a shared competition until Port tried to join the VFL" so I am questioning if that is true. With regards to Port going behind the backs of the other clubs you can hardly blame them and it definitely helped them get their licence in the end. The SANFL were trying to dictate to the VFL the conditions on which they would enter the competition. It was never going to happen and Port saw an opportunity.
ChrisH
Roar Rookie
Yeah, was a bit rich Gil blaming "human error" and punting the goal ump for the rest of the year. The umpire made a call he was very confident in. That's his job. His job is not to second-guess every decision he makes, else he won't be able to make any decisiona nd we may as well rplace him with robots. He made a mistake. The problem was and is failures in the system to catch mistakes. Gil couldn't bring himself to speak the truth, to say "The system we have in place failed, and needs to be fixed because it wasn't able to correct this mistake."